The long-awaited PBS series, Shakespeare Uncovered, premieres Friday, January 25 at 9:00 pm ET (check local listings) with two episodes back-to-back. In the first episode, Ethan Hawke invites viewers on his quest to play Shakespeare’s murderous Thane of Cawdor by researching the true story and real-life events that served as the play’s inspiration.

In the second episode, airing at 10:00 pm ET, Joely Richardson investigates (with her mother Vanessa Redgrave) the legacy of Twelfth Night and As You Like It, two brilliant cross-dressing comedies, with their missing twins, mistaken identities, and characters in disguise; their connections to Shakespeare’s personal life; and the great romantic heroines created by Shakespeare.

The complete series consists of six episodes:

January 25, 2013Macbeth with Ethan HawkeThe Comedies with Joely Richardson

Shakespeare Uncovered combines history, biography, iconic performances, new analysis, and the personal passions of its celebrated hosts to tell the stories behind the stories of Shakespeare’s greatest plays. Each program’s host has deep personal experience with Shakespeare’s work and relates not only the stories of the plays themselves, but also the stories of how they came to be written, how they have been performed, and how they have survived over 400 years. For more about the series and to check local times go to www.pbs.org/wnet/shakespeare-uncovered.